Off-the-Mall Idea

Perseus Retail Partners has launched a $250 million shopping center funding program that will provide joint venture equity and mezzanine debt to buyers and builders of non-mall retail assets. The fund is looking to lend between $5 million and $25 million per property and is aiming to have be fully invested within two years.

“What differentiates us from most funds out there is that this fund has a life that can go up to 10 years,” says Thomas J. Hofheimer, a Perseus director. “A lot of people doing this only want to own for three-to-five years.”

Perseus is targeting smaller players, rather than REITs, who are more prevalent in the open-air center market.

The fund is the first for the group, which was formed earlier this year by Perseus LLC, a merchant bank and private equity investment management company.